Places We Can Be

Aidah, Africa

My photo essay for the Safe Project, features my African friends who identify as LGBTQ+; expressing freedom, play and love in a political environment that is criminalising the existence and expression of queerness. 

Growing up in a riverside town, my friends and I spent most of our weekends swimming and sunbathing on the lush green banks. In these moments we could be ourselves and be free, momentarily forgetting the ever-present threat of persecution and need to hide.

Nature has acted as a womb for me, providing all the space and time to sit with my emotions and pain. It has also acted as the ultimate playground, a place to release all inhibitions and tune into our core selves; unpoliced and unjudged.

When I came out in high school, this was both unheard of and highly disapproved of too. I came to terms with my own bisexuality after developing a massive crush on a girl in my dormitory, and acknowledging that these feelings were the same and just as strong as my crushes on boys.

Despite being a highly religious community, my school’s safeguarding policies and my own confidence kept me safe from any explicit harm. But this didn’t rule out discrimination and judgement. On the final day of school and prom night, another girl from my class also came out and we shared our first kiss.

After high school, I eventually moved back to my hometown. Being openly queer was completely taboo. I did not encounter any other openly queer people until I met my best friend. She introduced me to the rest of her friendship group and together we formed a small, odd and unexpected community.

We were intentional about carving out spaces for joy and freedom, as these were things we had to fight for in our society.

Nature and the river-banks became our daytime playground – as they were free, fun and for me personally really rejuvenating. Most Saturday mornings we would meet at the riverbanks and just lounge and talk with no expectations for ourselves or the moment.

As one of my friends and subjects ‘J’ puts it; “In those moments, things didn’t feel so hopeless after all. I was so grateful to have found an accepting space and community at last.”

This safe space proved to be important as we were later raided by the police in our home, where I was staying with four other queer friends at the time. I was very shaken by the experience, and chose to move to another country in Africa for a wider sense of community, safety and to find platforms to pursue my artistic ambitions.

Moving has allowed me to date with some peace of mind, be heartbroken and able to talk about it, and finally also build and define my identity outside of my queerness – as it is not seen as the sole defining factor of my character here.

In societies where we are demonised, scapegoated and misunderstood, I strive to portray young queer people as equally magnificent, individual and belonging to the landscape; just as every other part of the natural environment.  Just as nature takes her time, never tries to be anything else, and finds her full function in the diversity of the ecosystem, so should we.

Aidah is an eco-feminist and photographer based in Africa. She is passionate about human rights for all, nature-based sustainable living and breaking out of the matrix. She is looking forward to claiming the humanity, space and identity of her community through the Safe Photography project, and living in a love based reality as opposed to one of fear. Her project is termed ‘The Places We can Be’.